Why should I give?

Your gift can enrich and enhance our community for many years to come. When you make a donation to the Petoskey-Harbor Springs Area Community Foundation, your gift will give a lasting impact-right here, where it will do the most good.

That's because the Foundation acts as a community bank account. By collecting contributions from people who care about our area, investing those funds carefully, and building a healthy endowment, we can use the investment income to help meet our community's most pressing needs.

Your gift to the foundation joins with others where it will yield a greater rate of return than it might if invested separately. As a result of favorable federal tax laws your gift may both help the community and also increase your income.

Best of all, your gift will continue to give for generations to come. Since only investment income from the endowment is used each year to help fund worthwhile projects, the Community Foundation is a permanent source of charitable revenue.

If you give to the Community Foundation, you are assured that the income from your gift will be given every year, year after year, to a charitable need in our community. Foundation members and trustees-local civic leaders-act as custodians of your gift.

As the needs of our community change, your donation will keep pace, helping to meet a current need. It's as if you entrusted your gift to a committee of respected community leaders and friends and asked them to make certain it was spent wisely-now, as well as into the future.

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How can I make a gift?

The foundation offers flexibility, simplicity, and permanence.

• You may make a gift of any amount to the Foundation. Regardless of its size, your donation will be used to benefit the community.
• Some donors make an unrestricted contribution, allowing the trustees of the foundation to decide how to direct the income and enabling us to respond to changing community needs.
• Other donors prefer to designate their gift for a certain cause. If you have an interest that's important to you-education, elder care, the arts, or youth programs, for example-you can choose for your donation to help fund programs in that particular area.
• You may also name a specific charitable organization that you would like your donation to help support.
• You may add your gift to an already existing fund, establish a new fund in your name, or create a special fund in living tribute to a family member or friend.

For information on Charitable Gift Annuities click here.

This ability to help donors with varied interests achieve their own charitable goals is one of the most unique aspects of our Community Foundation.

There are many websites available for making a charitable gift on-line. We do not endorse any website, but have provided links to two websites below. The Community Foundation strongly advises you to research any on-line giving website before making a gift. Most charge a small administration fee.

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What will my gift do?

Your donation yields abundant benefits and lasting rewards. A gift to the Foundation is an investment in our community-one that will grow and generate revenue for many years.

Just as our families taught us to save for the future, the Foundation offers an opportunity to set aside some of the net worth of each generation to meet the needs of the next. With the foundation's permanent pool of flexible resources, we'll be able to address new and ongoing needs in our area as we work together to build a stronger community.

Whether your donation is invested to support one of our area's nonprofit organizations-or is used to fund a variety of projects to benefit human services, health, the environment, economic development, the arts, or education-you can be certain it will improve and enrich life for many people in the community.

Your gift to the Foundation also reaps substantial tax savings. In addition to the standard federal income tax deduction, our donors receive the special Michigan Tax Credit for community foundations.

We would be happy to suggest ways in which the Community Foundation can help meet your charitable needs or be supportive of your nonprofit organization. Please contact our professional staff or speak with any of our trustees.

Our Community Foundation has the power to make a positive, lasting impact on the lives of so many people in our area. And we are doing it all with private funding-no government funds and no political strings attached-thanks to the generosity of good and caring people like you.

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